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„FlB 16 1888 -r- ^ 



P II I L A D E I. P IT I A : 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 

1888, 



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Copyright, 1888, by J. B. Lippincott Company. 







ALABAMA. 



Alabama, one of the Uuited States of North America,' 
extends northward from the Gulf of Mexico some 330 
statute miles, the state of Tennessee being on the north, 
Georgia on the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico on 
the south, and ^tississippi on the west; 30° 13' to 35° 
N. lat., 84° 53' to 88° 35' W. long. The seaboard has 
an extent of about 50 miles, excluding the shores of 
Mobile Bay and the minor sinuosities. The maximum 
breadth of the state is 202 miles. The area, as officially 
estimated, is 52,250 sq. m., a little more than that of 
England, exclusive of Wales. 

The state has four strongly marked natural divisions. 
The southernmost portion, known locally as the Piny 
Woods, having an average breadth from north to south 
of about 125 miles, is of tertiary and quaternary forma- 
tion, with a surface-covering of sandy drift. In this 
region are extensive forests of the yellow pine {Pinus 
australis), extremely valuable for its timber, as well as 
for its yield of turpentine, rosin, tar, and turpentine-oil. 
Near the rivers are swamps densely timbered with valu- 
ble cypress {Taxodium cUstichum). The pine-region has 
for the most part a light soil. North of this coast-re- 
gion comes the Cane-brake, or Black Belt, of extremely 
fertile cretaceous (rotten limestone) soils. A part of this 



4 • ALABAMA. 

belt consists of open (^bald') prairie. Good water is 
only procurable in some sections of this belt by means 
of artesian wells. Cotton is the staple product of this 
tract. North of the Black Belt lies the great mineral 
region of the state. This district is in reality the south- 
west terminal portion of the grea^ Appalachian range of 
mountains, here, for the most part, merely broken ridges 
and lines of hills, among and to westward of which are 
found vast bodies of good coal, side by side with beds 
of iron-ore and limestone of enormous extent. This 
fact renders it certain that middle and north-east Ala- 
bama must speedily become one of the world's great 
centres of the production of iron. The north part of 
Alabama comprises a portion of the fertile valley of the 
Tennessee E-iver. In the north-east, especially to the 
east of the river, there is a mountainous tract, a contin- 
uation of the central iron district. 

The large navigable rivers, Alabama (312 miles long 
by survey) and Tombigbee, unite in the south-west part 
of the state to form the short Mobile E-iver, which flows 
into Mobile Bay, near the town of Mobile. The greater 
part (some 18,000 sq. m.) of the state is drained by this 
river-system. The Black Warrior is the largest affluent 
of the Tombigbee; and the Cahawba (115 miles long), 
Coosa (335 miles long), and Tallapoosa are important 
tributaries of the Alabama. These main streams, with 
some others, are in general either navigable or may be 
fitted for navigation, while their minor tributaries afford 
vast water-power, as yet very imperfectly utilized. In 
the north, the great river Tennessee traverses the state, 
but its importance for navigation is lessened by the 
' Muscle Shoals,' an extensive series of rocks and rapids, 



ALABAMA. 5 

which can only be passed at very high water. Engineer- 
in «• works for surmounting these obstructions have been 
undertaken. 

The mineral resources of the state are varied and im- 
portant. Besides the valuable coal and iron deposits 
already noticed, Alabama has extensive beds of fine 
marble, statuary granite, and building stones in large 
variety. Some gold is mined in Cleburne and Talladega 
counties. Medicinal springs are found in nearly all 
parts of the state. 

Among the leading productions of Alabama are 
cotton, maize, oats, wheat, and sweet potatoes. Rice 
and sugar-cane are grown in the southern counties. 
Apples, peaches, grapes, figs, pears, and oranges (the 
latter in the south) are among the fruits successfully 
grown. Tobacco is cultivated in the north. In general, 
the soils of this state are highly fertile ; but in the pine 
barrens, and in the mountain region, there are large 
tracts not naturally productive. 

The climate is warm but equable, the hill country 
and the pine forests (except near the swampy districts) 
are remarkably healthful; but the fertile Black Belt is 
not regarded as a safe place of summer or autumnal resi- 
dence for unacclimatised persons. Remittent and bilious 
fevers are not unfrequent in this region. The rainfall is 
abundant, and is well distributed throughout the year ; 
but some of the porous limestone soils are not retentive 
of water, and the crops often suffer from drought. The 
small rivers of the central region are remarkably liable 
to floods or freshets. 

The only seaport of Alabama is Mobile ; but the ap- 
proach to that town is not practicable for large ships ; 



6 ALABAMA. 

hence Pensacola in Florida has become the principal 
shipping-point for the lumber and forest products of 
Alabama ; while Savannah in Georgia, New Orleans in 
Louisiana, and Charleston in South Carolina, ship a 
large part of the cotton crop. The foreign trade in 
Alabama coal promises to become large. 

The manufacturing interests of Alabama are rapidly 
developing. Pig-iron can be produced here, it is con- 
fidently asserted, more cheaply than in any other part 
of America. Cotton goods are largely manufactured. 
Much lumber is sawed in the forest region, which also 
affords considerable amounts of tar and naval stores. 
The railway system of Alabama is extensive. 

Alabama was settled by the French, who established 
a fort on the Mobile River in 1702. The city of Mo- 
bile was founded in 1712. The French settlements 
were regarded as a part of the Louisiana colony until 
1763, when the country was ceded to Great Britain by 
the Treaty of Paris. What is now Southern Alabama 
was ceded to Spain in 1783, and became a part of West 
Florida, wiiile the rest of the country was given up to 
the United States, which, however, after 1803, claimed 
the Spanish part under the Louisiana purchase ; but 
Spain did not concede this claim until 1819. Alabama 
was made a state of the Union in 1819, and seceded, 
with most of the other slave states, in 1861. After 
the civil war of 1861-65, the state passed through 
a long season of social and business depression ; but 
since 1880 the outlook for Alabama is one of unusual 
promise. 

The chief towns are Montgomery, the capital, pop. 
(1880) 16,714, since much increased; Mobile, 29,132; 



ALABAMA. , 7 

and Birmingham, the principal seat of the newly 
founded iron industry, pop. (1887) about 30,000. 

The pop. of Alabama in 1800 was only 1250 ; (1830) 
309,257; (1860) 964,201; (1880) 1,262,505 (about 25 
persons to the square mile), of whom 662,185 were 
white, and 526,271 were of pure or mixed African 
descent. 



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